Athena Hotel

"Siena was a wonderful choice for a “home base” in Tuscany. It was large enough to have plenty of choices in dining and shopping but small enough to be very safe and walkable.

Hotel Athena was a solid 4. If there was a 4.5, I would probably rank it there. It was clean, had good breakfast (included) and quiet. The staff were pleasant and attentive. My only 2 negatives were it was on the outskirts of town and you had to walk uphill 10-15 minutes to most of the city life. The second drawback is more of a personal preference, but the feel was like a nice Hampton Inn or chain rather than a unique European hotel with antiques etc.

(1) ROOMS - we traveled as 6. My husband and I were in one room (720) and my children shared a family room (504). The family suite was smaller than the one they had just come from in Venice so there was less room for luggage for 4. 504 is THE closest room to the lobby and they had NO ISSUES with Noise. 720’s window overlooked the bar and the countryside and we had NO ISSUES with noise. The beds were very comfortable, there was a safe and a fridge filled with 4 complimentary waters per day.

(2) ELECTRONICS - The bedside plugs required an L type converter (3 round prongs) and the bathroom plugs required a C type (2 round prongs). We had difficulty with the hotel provided hair dryers in both rooms which would over heat after about 2 minutes and shut down and cool off for 5 minutes. It took me 1 hour 45 minutes to dry my long, very thick hair. I have not had this problem with dryers before in Europe. Also, our flat iron which worked in Venice did not seem to work here in either bathroom trying multiple converters. who knows?

(3) BREAKFAST - was included. Very European with coffee machine, meats, cheese, eggs, veggies, yogurt, pastries.

(4) BAR/TERRACE - we greatly enjoyed the outdoor bar/terrace area. The view was amazing. It was open 5-11. It was crowded daily and could have used a second bartender at times. About 40% of tables are covered and additional covering for the other tables or even umbrellas would be very nice as the sun/heat was brutal and the rain was intermittent. A lot of people would come and turn around and leave when give then option for the uncovered tables.

(5) FRONT DESK - Very, very nice. They mailed a postcard for me. They helped with dining suggestions and answered all questions with a smile and pleasant attitude. Really professional.

(6) HOUSEKEEPING - Excellent. Trustworthy. Rooms were cleaned and towels refreshed daily. The rooms were spotless. I left my wedding room on my nightstand one day by accident and it was still there when I returned!

Very Random Siena tip unrelated to the Hotel Athena, but we all read Juliet by Anne Fortier prior to going. We felt like we had some context about the Palio and Contrada traditions and it made walking around the town and seeing the statues/flags etc more exciting/meaningful."

"We stayed at the Hotel Athena in May, 2026, and were very happy with it. Inside the old city walls, in a relatively quiet part of town, but still walkable to all of the sights and attractions in the old city. The hotel staff is welcoming and helpful. And a special shoutout to Simone Rotellini who really went above and beyond to help us."

"The staff is terrific, especially Matteo! The hotel is very nice with stunning views. We checked in and our room felt chilly, at first we ignored it but as the afternoon wore on, we tried to up the thermostat. It would not go above 19c which is 66 degrees F. We called and then eventually went down to speak n person.as it turns out the Government decrees when the heat and or air conditioning can be turned on. The hotel could not raise the temperature in our room, by law. The low that night was 46 F and we spent an uncomfortable Night. The next morning we decided to leave the hotel and rework our trip. One more thing, we had dinner in the hotel restaurant and the food was more than disappointing. Eggplant croquets that were refrigerator cold, Risotto that was so undercooked that it was literally crunchy and the kicker..rosemary crème brûlée that was boiling hot…all the way through."